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III. COMMENTS -COMPLIANCE <br />Below are comments on the inspection. The comments include discussion of observations made <br />during the inspection. Comments also describe any enforcement actions taken during the inspection <br />and the facts or evidence supporting the enforcement action. <br />Slides and Damaoe <br />Two slopes previously subject to sliding and repair were covered by the images. The ridgeline slide area <br />in the Pond 15 watershed that failed and was repaired in 2001 has a good grass cover, with no <br />indication of recent movement. <br />The "A" Pit final highwall slide area, which was repaired in the fall of 2004, has been roughened and <br />broadcast seeded. There was no evidence of renewed movement, but there did appear to be seepage <br />evident in the vicinity of the slide repair area. The location of apparent seepage will be checked during <br />future site inspections. <br />Topsoil and Reveaetation <br />The entirety of the "D" and "C" Pit areas have been topsoiled and revegetated. Though not apparent <br />from the images, a serious noxious weed infestation has been documented in the 2004 "D" Pit <br />reclamation in the vicinity of Stockpond T-20, and on the extensively roughened highwall reduction slope <br />nearby. <br />Large areas of the "A" and "B" Pits were topsoiled and revegetated during the fall of 2004, and a small <br />remaining area was revegetated in the spring of 2005. The entirety of the "A" and "B" Pit areas in the <br />original permit area has now been permanently seeded or planted. The first year seeded areas are <br />currently dominated by seeded cover crops (wheat or oats), and various annual fortis. In general, the <br />initial cover has been sufficient to prevent significant erosion, but there are various locations where rill <br />and gully repairs and follow-up seeding will be necessary. Some of this work has already been initiated, <br />notably in the 006-NE2 watershed in the vicinity of the oil well. There is a small bare area visible in the <br />images within the 006-NE2 drainage Swale, near the upper end of the Swale segment that was regraded <br />and topsoiled in 2004. The area was apparently re-worked in conjunction with erosion repairs conducted <br />this spring, and it appears that seeding may have inadvertently not been done. The small area will need <br />to be seeded, and there are also several areas of minor erosion that will need repair in the same general <br />vicinity. <br />Wadge Ridgeline pit areas in the southern portion of the original permit and northern portion of the South <br />Extension have been fully topsoiled. Portions of the north leg Wadge Pits in the Pond 016 watershed <br />have been topsoiled, and topsoiling had been initiated on the regraded areas at the far south end of the <br />South leg Wadge Pits in the Pond 016 watershed. <br />There appeared to still be puddles of standing water in the Swale within the fenced aspen establishment <br />area on the ridgeline. Elk fencing appears to have been installed around the perimeter of the large aspen <br />establishment area in the draw that drains off the east side of the ridgeline, as well as at the "aspen <br />farm" plot, on the north edge of the large aspen grove, immediately south of the backfilled north leg <br />Wadge Pits. <br />Soil had been properly stripped ahead of pit development in the active Wolf Creek mining block <br />4 <br />